Lawsuit Alleges AL Cops Tased Teen Girl At Concert During Seizure

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In a federal lawsuit filed last week, an Alabama woman is claiming Rainbow City and Gadsden police repeatedly tased her and her teenage daughter at a rap concert as the girl was having a seizure.

The woman, who has not been identified, says police used a Taser at least three times on the child’s chest as officers pinned her to the ground while she endured a grand mal seizure on Jan. 16, as other officers looked on nearby.

The 32-page suit names five police officers and the police chief from Rainbow City and three others from Gadsden, as well as the Center Stage concert venue where the concert was held.

The woman says as she tried to help her daughter, officers knocked her to the ground, handcuffed, tased and then arrested her.

The lawsuit claims the teen suffered a seizure earlier that day at school and was treated but later went to the concert, where a performer caused a “stampede” after going into the crowd resulting in the child being “trampled.”

The girl’s sister told a venue employee that the girl was having a seizure, and the worker carried her to the lobby and dropped her on the ground, where she was then placed in a chokehold.

The sister called their mother, who arrived a short time later, and police quickly pinned her to the ground and tased the woman, causing her to urinate on herself, the lawsuit claims.

The suit says officers then used a Taser three times against the teenager as she lay face-down with her arms pinned behind her, causing the girl to lose consciousness.

She was taken to a nearby hospital, where her mother was arrested for disorderly conduct.

The suit also claims police ridiculed the teen and threatened to take her to a mental hospital to be committed.

The girls mother asserts her daughter continues to lose consciousness and suffer muscle contractions, as well as exhibit loud and involuntary vocalizations, as a result of the incident.